Flexible shaft



H. E. SCHULSE FLEXIBLE SHAFT June 6, 1933.

Filed July 25. 1928 W IM Patented June 6, 1933 HERMAN E. scHuLsE, or New YORK, N.

Y., essieu-on 'ro H. E. scHUILsE, INC., A

l CORPORATION or* New YORK FLEXIBLE eintrat Application filed July 23,

VMy present invention is concerned pri marily with flexible driving shaft structures, particularly of such a structure which is well suited foruse in conjunction with the power '155 drive of` a shoe polishing deviceorthe like,

although features of the invention are applicable toother uses. l y

Itis among the further objectsof the invention to `provide equipment of the above `1'0 type, by which: shoes may be rapidly shined to' a higher andinore permanent polish, than was practicable heretofore, yet requiring only a small fraction of the time consumed by hand polishing, and requiring no muscular T15 effort on the part of the operator. l

Another object is to provide a power driven equipment of the type mentioned, which is of small bulli, yet so rugged as to withstand, without danger `of derangement, the hard `20 hard usage to which it may be subjected by mechanically,unskilled operators and which,

infact, is substantially foolproof. l

Another obj-ect of the invention isto provide shoe shiningequipment of the type noted 135 above,dispensing with the menial labor of a bootblacl and rendering the operation a` clean and substantially effortless one for the operator while avoiding the danger of splashing polish` on :the garments of the patron. l

This applicationW is a continuation in part of mycopending application Serial #161,497 filed Jan. 17,1927. l

The invention may be `more fullyv under# stood from the following description in con- 5 nection with lthe accompanying drawing, wherein. y l

f Fig. 1 is a perspective View illustrating a portable stool for the operator, especially useful in barber shops where the `operator must move: from place to place shining the shoes of patrons receiving tonsorialtreatment in thebarber chairs. l Fig.` 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional 45 view through the brush',showing its connection tothe driving means. .y

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the manner in which the brush operating shaft is secured to the stool and driven, and `60` Fig. '4 is'a diagrammatic plan View of the 162s; serieu No. 294,673.

brush showing the bristle tuft arrangement utilized. l

The portable operators unit of Fig. 1 includes a chassis 33 with wheels 34 upon the rear part of which is mounted a stool 35'pre'f- 55 erably of construction generallysimilar to that disclosed in my prior application. At the forward end of the chassis i's a floor engagingl rubber stud 36 to preventfthe unit from slipping'about the floor underthe pres'- 6G sure ofa floot on the rest 37 which is supported at the topof a post 88 rising from the forward end of the chassis. l

Underthe seat 39 there is mounted a Suitable electric motor 47 which may beenergized 65 from any suitable wall outlet (notshown) by the insertionof a` terminal plug 49 at the end of the fleXiblelea-ds 50. A small rotary snap switch 51 controls the motor circuit and is disposed directly underthe seat and at the v forward end thereof, by which ther operator can readily open` and close the motor circuit, withoutrising from or turning on his stool.

, Between,thetwohforward legsV of the stool Y isdispo'sedA a metal panel 52"` through which 75 exten-ds a' liked bearing bushingq53 provided with al flange 54 clamped against the outer face of the panel by a nut 55 threaded upon the innerpart of the bushing and clamping a large disk 56 against the inner face of the panel 52.

Within the bushing is mounted a mechanical terminal in the form of a bearing stub shaft 57, to the outer end of which is secuiedas byla set screw 59, the hub of aL driven pulley 60. y The motor shaft has a smaller drivinggpulley 61"and the torque is transmitted from the motor to the driven pulley preferably by a resilient belt 62. l f

Preferably the bushing 53 is mountedunder the seat so as toV tilt slightly upward as shown'. Themotor 47 is preferably mounted at a corresponding tilt, so that the transmission belt 62 extends in proper relation in a plane at; right angles to the shaft'sbetween which it transmits torque.

Upon the outer end of the stub shaft 57 is mountedmthe flexible drivingshaft 67. y F or this purpose the eXtremity ofsaid shaft has brazed thereonto a terminal socketf68 thread- Sli ico

ed upon a corresponding nipple 69 fixed upon the end of the stub shaft 57. The opposite end of the flexible shaft 67 preferably extends and is bra-Zed into a corresponding socket 70 in the extremity of a metal shaft 7l upon which the rotary brush 65 is mounted. The brush and its specific mount will be later described. Y

ln order to protect the flexible shaft from injury an armor sheath 75 of helically wound spring wire is used. Housed within sheath 75 encircling the flexible shaft 67 is a protective flexible tubular casing including an outer woven layer 76 and an inner flexible metallic layer 77 preferably of spirally wound strip stock. A terminal tting or sleeve 78 screwed on the outer end of bushing 534 receives a collar 79 grazed on the end of the casing. This collar is held against reniovalfrom the sleeve by a hollow plug 8O Screwed into the outer end of the sleeve 78 to an extent limited byits abutment flange 8l. The plug 8O encircl'es the casing behind the collar79. The end of the spring armor 75 is distended and slipped over the reduced end of the sleeve 78 to an extent limited by an external shoulder 82 on the sleeve. I

At the brush end of the' flexible .shaft 67 the rigid shaft extension 7l has a bearing in a handlev bushing '83 adapted to be manually grasped by the operator,` and vformed with a guardpflange 84 to protect the operator-s hand from contact With'th'e rotary parts.

At one vend thebushing 83 abuts and 'forms a thri'ist'bearing for a spacing collar 85 ,fixed by setfscrew 86'to' turnwith shaft extension 7l.` Screwed over the reduced opposite end of the bushing 83is a sleeve 87 over the re# duced end of which the brush end vof the sheath v7 5 isfslipped into abutment with a shoulder 88 on the sleeve. A hollow plug 89 similar to plug 80 is screwed into the end of sleeve 87 and the end of the casing 76, 77 is Y screwed into the plug or 'otherwise firmly secured thereto.

The rotary brush 65 preferably includes two similar brushunits axially alined and held in abutment although it might be'formed as a single member'.r Each of the units comprises a hollow core 9() into which the brush tufts 91 are secured, preferably by metal stitching (not shown), which in itself is not my invention. A hub sleeve 92 extends through the core 90 and has an overturned end 93 reacting against an 'end disk 94and is secured in position by a nut 95 threaded upon the opposite end thereof, and reacting against a Idisk 96. This nut also isV threadedly connected to a reduced threaded end 9 8 of flexible shaft extension 7l whereby the hub sleeve 92 is fixed to turn with the flexible shaft 67. If desired a non-metallic liner sleeve suchl as 97 may be interposed between the brush cores 9() and sleeve 92. y y y i The bristle tuft arrangement as 4shown in Fig. 2 consists of arcuate rows of tufts extending longitudinally of the cores with the ends of the rows in advance of the centers of the rows. Thus adjacent rows produce a scoop-like configuration adapted to pass air entering between the ends of the rows towards the center of the brush before it is forcibly discharged in a radial direction. Obviously this arrangement might be produced on a single core or two core units such as these illustrated may cooperatively produce the desired brstle arrangement.

in use, the operator seated on his stool, having daubed the shoe, simply turns the switch button 5l under the seat, whereupon the brush will revolve. The operator gently holds the brush against the shoe, while passing'it over the surface thereof. In practice, it is neither necessary nor desirable to exert any substantialy pressure on the shoe with the brush. I have discovered that this operation produces a higher and more permanent polish4 that results from more intense pressure. i

The special arrangement of 4tufts produce a more powerful blast of air than does the more conventional arrangement. Accordingly the solvent of the polish is rapidly evaporated, leaving the carnauba or other wax base on the shoe, and imparting a high and hardv polish thereto, without melting or softening the wax by heat, or gumming the brush with such softened wax.

When Vit is desired to lay down the brush when V,still spinning, the handle member 83, 87 is merely laid crossways upon the terminal piece 78, as best shown in Fig. l. The terminal being inclined downward toward the inet-al panel' 52, it will be seen that the handle 83 tends to slide towards the panel, and the endr disk 84 sustains the brush from being drawn off by the weight of the depen ding flexible shaft and armor sheath.

y The various threaded connections afforded iii-my driving transmission are preferably right hand threads, oppositev to the direction of rotation of the flexiblel driving shaft 67. Thus, obviously the tendency of the rotating mechanism is to tighten rather than loosen the parts carrying these threads, which threads, therefore, need not be and preferably'are not locked. This arrangement, affords great convenience for charging brushes. The operator need merely revolve the brush uporiits handle in clockwise direction by hand and draw it off, slipping the substitute brush thereover. Vithout further operation, as soon as he holds the brush against the shoe, the tread is automatically closed and remains secure throughout use.

It will thus be seen that there is herein describeda device in which the several features of this invention are embodied, and which device in its action attains the various objects of theinvention and is well suited to meet the re uirements of practical use.

s many changes could be made in the above construction, and many apparently` ter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus ,described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to receive by Letters Patent is as follows:

able therein, a flexible shaft secured to said` stub, a'tool secured to the outer end of said flexible shaft, a protective casing enveloping said flexible shaft, a tubular fitting fixed with j respect to said bearing bushing, encircling the driving end of said flexible shaft and alfording a mount for the extremity of said casing, and means carried by said protectivecasing and received within said tubular fitting kfor mounting the end of said protective casing.

2. A flexible driving shaft assemblage including a flexible shaft connected at one end to a source of power and at its other end to an implement to be driven, bearing bushings encirclingl the shaft adjacent opposite ends of the latter within which the shaft is freely rotatable, a flexible protective casing fixedly secured at its ends to the bearing bushings and a protective sheath encircling the casing and rotatable relatively to the bearing bushings.

3. A flexible driving shaft assemblage including a flexible shaft connected at one end to a source of power and at its other end to an implement to be driven, bearing bushings encircling the shaft adjacent opposite ends of the. latter and within which the shaft is freely rotatable, aflexible protective casing flxedly secured at its ends to the bearing bushings and a protective sheath comprising a coiled spring the enlarged ends of which encircle and are rotatable on the ends of hearing bushings.

l. A power transmission shaft comprising a flexible shaft section, a rigid shaft section secured to each end of the flexible shaft section in rigid ,axial alignment therewith, a bushing for mounting each of said rigid shaft sections, a sleeve proj ectingfrom each of said bushings, each of said sleeves enclosing a portion of said flexible shaft section, a protect* ing casing for said flexible shaft section, and meanscarried by the ends of said protecting `casingfor reception in said sleeves to secure said protecting casing in position. t

`5` A power transmission shaft comprising a flexibleshaft section, a rigid shaft section secured to eachend of the llexibleshaft section `in rigid axial alignment therewith, a bushing for mounting each `of said rigid shaft sections, a sleeve projecting from each ofsaid bushings, each of said sleeves enclosing a por- -tilon of said flexible shaft section, a protecting casing forsaid flexible: shaftu section, and means carried`by1theends of said protecting casing for` receptionin said sleeves to -secure said protecting casing in position, said last l mentioned means comprising rigid elements carried by the protecting'casing forlreception in their respectivesleevesl 1 V 6; A flexib Yepowertransmission shaft coniprising a flexible shaftsectioinfa rigid sha-ft sec-tion carried by 'eachfendof said flexible sha-ft section, a. bushing for each of said rigid shaft sections, a sleeve rigidly attached to each of said bushings, a protecting casing for said flexible shaft section, and means carried by each end of the protecting casing for reception in said sleeves to secure the-protecting casing about said flexible shaft section, one of the sleeves having a guard flange thereon. i

7. A flexible power transmission shaft comprising a flexible shaft section, a rigid shaft section carried by each end of said flexible shaft section, a bushing for each of said rigid shaft sections, a. sleeve rigidly carried by each of said bushings, a protecting casing for said flexible shaft section, a collar rigidly carried by one end of said protecting casing for reception in one of said sleeves, a screw plug on the casing behind the collar for securing said collar in said sleeve and thereby securing the `flexible casing to the sleeve, and means for securing the other end of the protecting casing to the other sleeve.

8. Inra device of the character described, a rotary tool, a rigid shaft, on which said tool is mounted, a bushing for said shaft, a sleeve secured to said bushing and having a guard flange thereon, said bushing and said sleeve forming a handle for said tool, a flexible shaft extending into said sleeve and rigidly secured to the shaft on which the tool is mounted, a protective casing for said flexible shaft, and a screw threaded element carried by said protective casing, and having threaded engagement with the interior of said sleeve for securing the protective casing thereto.

9. Apparatus of the character described, having power transmission including a flexible shaft, an implement secured to the outer end of said transmission, a sleeve adjacent said implement and encircling the end of the power transmission, the sleeve having a flange thereon and having apart serving as a handle for manipulating the implement, a protective casingencircling said flexible shaft and means comprising a screw threaded coupling element attached to said protective cas.- ing and having threaded engagement with said sleeve for Connecting said protective cas-l ing to said sleeve. Y v

10. A yielding power transmitting element including non-rotating'terminal pieces, oneV of which has aflange thereon, a protective casing, means comprising threaded couplings for securing opposite ends of said protective casing to said pieces and a iiexible driving sha-ft'extending longitudinally through said casing, said flexible shaft having bearing ends, and hearing bushings for said ends, rigid with said terminal pieces.

Signed at News7 York city in the county of New York and State of New York this 18th day of July A. D. 1928.

HERMAN SCI-IULIE.V 

